We were pleased to be able to be the Match Ball sponsor at the West Ham v Everton game at Upton Park. The biggest upset was James McCarthy’s ugly tackle on Dimitri Payet, which looked like a ‘sending off’ offence. Payet was replaced by Enner Valencia who threatened on several occasions and then he was forced off by a tackle from Seamus Coleman.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Victor Moses being awarded Man Of The Match.

We were very pleased to be able to sponsor the first leg of West Ham Utd’s second round tie with Birkirkara FC. The Hammers rode out 1-0 against a heavily defensive Maltese side, with James Tomkins chesting the ball in from a well-struck corner from Mauro Zarate.

We (I) chose Mauro Zarate as our man of the match for his skilful display.

We had a fantastic time as guests of West Ham Chairmen – David Gold and David Sullivan – for the tasty ‘West Ham v Arsenal’ fixture at Upton Park.

And what a game it was – I can do no better than ‘paste’ Sky’s Phil Thompson’s verdict here.

“For the neutral this was absolutely stunning, it was a magnificent game. It was a second game in three days, with both sides giving everything. I didn’t want the game to end, it was that good. Szczesny deserves great compliments because he has made a big decision that anything in the air he is going to come and get and control the air in the penalty area. He had to be precise.”

Perhaps the only thing I should add is that West Ham were very unfortunate not to pick up at least a point from this game, where they had a superb Alex Song goal disallowed for a very dubious ‘offside – interfering with play’ decision – no ‘offside’ Hammers player touched the ball! Anyway, I was very proud of the lads fight back in the second half.

We loved talking to some of the celebrities in the lounge – as shown below:

I was very lucky to have been awarded second place prize at the West Ham Utd Player Awards dinner in May (see previous post). The prize was being guest of West Ham’s joint chairmen for the pre-season friendly vs UC Sampdoria (and I could also bring along my partner, Patricia and my brother Ian and his son – Michael (both lifelong Hammers fans).

As part of the Prize, I got to choose the man of the match and present the award. I choose one of our most reliable players – Mark Noble – who was a pivotal part of our display. Peter Rayney Tax Consulting Ltd was also featured on the screen as the Match Day sponsor.

We thoroughly appreciated the kind hospitality shown by everyone at the club, especially chairmen David Gold, David Sullivan, Jill Moore, Julie O’Leary, and Charley Harding, for making it a magical memorable day…

Here are some photos from our adventure…

Presenting Man of the Match award to Mark Noble

Pitchside with David Gold and nephew Michael

Sitting in Big Sam’s hot seat in the dug-out (with Patricia)

Cross arms ‘Irons’ pose with David Gold and David Sullivan (and Brother Ian)

Our guests all had a hugely enjoyable night at the West Ham United Player Awards Dinner held at the Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane.

The event, hosted by TV personality – Ben Sheppard – was very entertaining, and it was great to be ‘rubbing shoulders’ with David Gold, David Sullivan, Karen Brady, Big Sam and the first team squad.

The auctioneer, Jonny Gould, had everyone in stitches as he cleverly managed to extract cash with the subtle use of personal guilt, setting-up strong competitive battles, and down-right cheekiness. He even managed to secure £10,000 from Andy Carroll – his prize being to play a game of FIFA on the big screen at Upton Park with up to 50 friends!

There were a number of awards which included Hammer of the Year and Player’s Player of the Year – both of which were deservedly picked up by Mark Noble. It was perhaps not surprising to see first choice goalie, Adrian, take the Save of the Season award!

It was lovely to see Sir Trevor Brooking pick up the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’

Our guests particularly liked having their pictures taken with the players.

It was a great personal privilege to meet the legendary Sir Trevor Brooking